Charlie Lyon, a former surfboard painter from Santa Cruz, moved to Maui in 1991, developed a following as an artist and this year partnered with iconic sunglass maker Maui Jim on a new line featuring his palm-inspired graphics. less

Charlie Lyon, a former surfboard painter from Santa Cruz, moved to Maui in 1991, developed a following as an artist and this year partnered with iconic sunglass maker Maui Jim on a new line featuring his ... more

Photo: Dana Edmunds

Former surfboard painter has an eye for Islands identity

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In the late 1970s and early 1980s, surfers in Santa Cruz were of the nonconformist sort, listening to the Ramones and the Clash, dyeing their hair in colors not found in nature, and causing a spike, so to speak, in face piercings. One such citizen of the subculture, artist Charlie Lyon, started his career painting surfboards in the then-backyard operation of the now-iconic shaper, John Mel. Day-Glo was the palette of the moment, and new airbrush techniques were a rebellion against Lyon’s classical training as a painter.

“My work wasn’t necessarily giving surfers an identity,” says Lyon, who moved in 1991 to Lahaina, Maui, where he spends his days surfing at Shark Pit Beach, three houses down the road from the home he shares with his wife, Leslie. “I believe I was helping them express their identity.”

While he also still works as an artist — his breezy, softly hued, island-themed canvases can be seen in high-end galleries and museums all over the world — Lyon still occasionally puts his stamp on surf style, such as designing logos for Body Glove and Billabong. He has also collaborated with iconic eyewear brand Maui Jim, first in 2014 and now on its new Curated Collection.

The collection features patterns from a triptych work, “Glide Mingle Blossom,” which Lyon painted specifically for the project. A stylistic departure from his realistic palm trees (viewing them, you can practically hear the fronds whispering in the wind), the imagery from “Glide” is more symbolic, a more pictographic portrayal of the “rhythm of life on the islands,” according to Lyon. A tiger shark (niuhi) navigating a breaking wave represents respect for the ocean, while dragonflies (pinao) darting among plumeria blossoms symbolize life and love.

Ti leaves, turtles (honu) and frigate birds (iwa) may also be part of the design, depending on which frame you choose: The repeating patterns, printed on the underside of two new frame styles, Vibe and Rhythm, are one of a kind. The hidden flair is akin to the flamboyant lining of a sharp suit, designed this way in the name of quiet individualism, a full about-face from the artist’s neon surfboards of yore.

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“I like the idea of looking beneath the surface of fashion,” says Lyon, who has just begun to see his designs, which debuted last month, on tourists and locals around Lahaina. “There’s almost always a story waiting.”